When it comes to the Top 25 AP Poll, the Big Ten is not well represented. The Nebraska Cornhuskers didn’t receive one vote due to their 33-28 “Hail Mary” loss to BYU Cougars. How big a factor was the final play of the game? The Cougars received 74 points in the poll, coming in as the 27th ranked team in the country.
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The No.1 Ohio State Buckeyes came into the season as a heavy favorite to earn consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff. After their dominating win over Virginia Tech, the Buckeyes appear to be as advertised once again. They maintained all 61 first place votes, but detractors are pointing towards a weak conference schedule as their down fall.
However, the Buckeyes will have to face off with Big Ten East foe Michigan State Spartans in November. The Spartans hold steady as the No.5 team in the country, but they put their ranking on the line this Saturday. The Spartans have a top 10 match up against the No.7 Oregon Ducks, in a rematch of last season’s fierce battle. If Michigan State doesn’t have a great showing, it will be difficult for the conference to renew some confidence from the week 1 defeats.
The rest of the Big Ten conference is without a number next to their name. The Wisconsin Badgers fell out of the rankings, after losing to No.2 Alabama Crimson Tide in the season opener. They received 79 points, but have an opportunity to jump right back into the rankings next week.
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Despite Northwestern’s quality win over Stanford, the Wildcats didn’t get voted into the rankings either. Still, they received 72 points, after not having a single vote during the preseason poll. Defensively, Northwestern held Stanford to six points, so they maybe working with a great unit this season.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the only other Big Ten team receiving votes. They earned five points after losing to No.3 TCU by six points.
In all, only five Big Ten teams were acknowledged by the writers, so the conference has a lot of work to do in the next few weeks. Otherwise, the conference could be in a worse position than last year, after most of the non conference games were over.
As for the Cornhuskers, they’ll have quite a few chances to make amends for the first loss of the season. Currently, the Huskers only have one ranked team on the schedule, but those numbers are likely to change as the season progresses. Therefore, expect teams like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and possibly Northwestern to be in the poll during their contests. In addition, the BYU game could be looked upon as one of the great early match ups between high level teams this season.
However, for that to happen, the Cornhuskers must take care of business for the rest of the season.